The 20 year anniversary of the United States invasion of Iraq. What are your thoughts all these years later?

[Stryder50]

Iraqis don't speak Farsi.

Sorry, but many "in" that country did.
My oldest son was there from April 2004 to April 2005 with the 1st Cav Div whom relieved the invasion and first occupation forces, in time for the violent eruption from Sadr City which started the 2004 insurgency (within days of their arrival 'in-country').

He told me shortly after returning back home that about half the insurgents his unit dealt with (killed and captured) in the Sadr City region of Baghdad carried grave markers written in Farsi. The Insurgency from about a year after the 2003 "invasion" and occupation of Iraq, starting in April 2004 and boiling out of Sadr City Baghdad (Etc.) was largely led and supported by Iran and it's surrogate forces posing as Iraqis while operating on behalf of Iran.

He was there; as far as I know you weren't !!!

Guess who I believe and give credence to ??? !!!

(CLUE: Another area where our USA Intel. Agencies seem not to have had a clue nor earned the monies we pay them. !!!

 

[Stryder50]

IMVO---In my vaunted opinion----the biggest miss on the part of the USA was the
fact that Iraq actually has a SHIITE majority

Agreed.

Not sure if it's a case where our Intel Agencies were incompetent and fumbling, or the leadership hey reported to failed to understand and heed the intel provided.

Either or both shows a major "Lesson Learned" which should have been, but either wasn't or not applied. A problem common to the USA "professional foreign services" since about the 1950s onward and yet to be corrected or improved. Major problem being how our so-called Intel Agencies are dominated by old boy frat flunkies form the Ivy League colleges whom don't have a clue or give a damn other than to collect their salary and benefits and party on at embassy soirees.

 

[DudleySmith]

Here was an excellent morning discussion on the 20 year anniversary of the United States led invasion of Iraq. All sorts of informative calls from fellow American citizens on the very issue


“Viewers commented on a question concerning the 20th anniversary of former President George W. Bush declaring the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the start of the seven-year U.S. war in Iraq: “What is the legacy of that war?”

Washington Journal: News Headlines and Viewer Calls

Viewers commented on a question concerning the 20th anniversary of former President George W. Bush declaring the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the start of the seven-year U.S. war in Iraq: "What is the legacy of that war?"

www.c-span.org

I was just a young kid when this invasion had occurred in March 2003…. operation “shock and awe”




and it was a very interesting thing remembering it I was thinking why is this happening what is the deal with this man Saddam Hussein but more than that what about the proud people of Iraq what about them what about these Arabs what about these proud Arab Christians and Arab Muslims. Is he that’s one thing before 2003 12% of Iraq was Christian now something like 4% of the country is Christian. before 2003 the second in command of Iraq the number to most powerful man was a Catholic Tarik Aziz…. where is the Christian leader ship in Iraq now.? Critics have said that Iraq is very much influenced or even controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran something that is very ugly it certainly is not good for proud Arab women.

This is one of the last outlet’s of journalistic integrity in America which is Washington journal on C-SPAN. Where American citizens can call into the program and provide their opinion. You just don’t see that on CNN, Fox News or MSNBC.

My thoughts on the 20 year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the legacy of the Iraq war is first of all I stand by the United States military and by President George W. Bush. We as Americans we have freedom of speech that folks don’t have that in other countries of the world. But we have that in America at least for now. And I believe in supporting the office of the presidency just like it was during the Vietnam war when you had even Vietnam veterans who disagreed with the war but who fought because they were drafted and because they felt it was their duty.

I go back to the Iraq Iran war. I think that the United States should have supported Iraq more to crush Iran. Iran is a country that forces women to cover their hair has all sorts of sexist laws. They are problematic but they weren’t like that during the days of the shah. obviously we had the Iran contra affair I get this that was only for about four months during the Iran Iraq war and Ronald Reagan issued an apology to the Iraqi people for that episode.

One thing that stands out about this war is that Iraq was all alone…. they had no support from China no support from Russia that would’ve been a game changer if that support had occurred. Iraq did get some support from Arab volunteers across the Arab world but that hails in comparison to $100 billion in international military support for example. The hypocrisy of the international media between now and then is crystal clear.

To the other side of the argument one might say that the world is better off without the Ba’ath party of Iraq. But that is certainly very much debatable…. on the flipside you have ISIL and the terrorism brutality this was probably the worst state in the history of the world ….perhaps second to the third Reich. For a couple of years the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant were throwing people into fires, they were feeding men to sharks in pools literally, ISIL would put men in a cage three or four of them and then drown them to death in a suburban swimming pool, they would Put men into a car and then blow the car up. They would chainsaw peoples heads off …. they executed Christians in mass…. basically anything you could think of from a violent video game ISIL did…. ISIL even had their own modified version of the video game “ Grandtheft auto“…which word attempt to recruit young gamers over to the cause of ISIL.

Of course after 2003 and also during the initial invasion you had dead Americans you had dead Iraqis. There was anywhere from 300,000 to 1,000,000 dead Iraqis due to the war in Iraq. Not to mention the tens of thousands of American soldiers who were injured…. some of whom suffered horrific spinal cord injuries , neck injuries they had their legs blown off their arms blown off many of these men these brave American soldiers are in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. They can’t have sex they can’t even use the bathroom on their own piano that is something that words cannot really describe.

But it’s not just ISIL. Here’s a question we as Americans can ask today. What is the purpose of The state of Iraq …. A country which of the United States poured trillions of dollars into and countless American lives over 3200 American lives and again tens of thousands of injured soldiers. So where does Iraq stand today is it actually an ally of the United States? , or is it more so an ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran? which chants of death to America.

Finally what will the future of Iraq be ? will it actually remain a technical ally of the United States or will it become closer toward Iran? I think this is perhaps the most important question. Iraq has quite a bit of natural resources of course much oil.

Nation building among Islamo-Savages is doomed to fail.

 

[DudleySmith]

The invasion by Bush II was necessary because Bush I failed to finish what he should have done. As for Iran, that belonged to Saint Ronald and his feckless dealing with them. Terrorists have seen us as an easy mark ever since. The failure in Iraq was in the aftermath of the invasion.

 

[Moonglow]

Here was an excellent morning discussion on the 20 year anniversary of the United States led invasion of Iraq. All sorts of informative calls from fellow American citizens on the very issue


“Viewers commented on a question concerning the 20th anniversary of former President George W. Bush declaring the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the start of the seven-year U.S. war in Iraq: “What is the legacy of that war?”

Washington Journal: News Headlines and Viewer Calls

Viewers commented on a question concerning the 20th anniversary of former President George W. Bush declaring the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the start of the seven-year U.S. war in Iraq: "What is the legacy of that war?"

www.c-span.org

I was just a young kid when this invasion had occurred in March 2003…. operation “shock and awe”




and it was a very interesting thing remembering it I was thinking why is this happening what is the deal with this man Saddam Hussein but more than that what about the proud people of Iraq what about them what about these Arabs what about these proud Arab Christians and Arab Muslims. Is he that’s one thing before 2003 12% of Iraq was Christian now something like 4% of the country is Christian. before 2003 the second in command of Iraq the number to most powerful man was a Catholic Tarik Aziz…. where is the Christian leader ship in Iraq now.? Critics have said that Iraq is very much influenced or even controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran something that is very ugly it certainly is not good for proud Arab women.

This is one of the last outlet’s of journalistic integrity in America which is Washington journal on C-SPAN. Where American citizens can call into the program and provide their opinion. You just don’t see that on CNN, Fox News or MSNBC.

My thoughts on the 20 year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the legacy of the Iraq war is first of all I stand by the United States military and by President George W. Bush. We as Americans we have freedom of speech that folks don’t have that in other countries of the world. But we have that in America at least for now. And I believe in supporting the office of the presidency just like it was during the Vietnam war when you had even Vietnam veterans who disagreed with the war but who fought because they were drafted and because they felt it was their duty.

I go back to the Iraq Iran war. I think that the United States should have supported Iraq more to crush Iran. Iran is a country that forces women to cover their hair has all sorts of sexist laws. They are problematic but they weren’t like that during the days of the shah. obviously we had the Iran contra affair I get this that was only for about four months during the Iran Iraq war and Ronald Reagan issued an apology to the Iraqi people for that episode.

One thing that stands out about this war is that Iraq was all alone…. they had no support from China no support from Russia that would’ve been a game changer if that support had occurred. Iraq did get some support from Arab volunteers across the Arab world but that hails in comparison to $100 billion in international military support for example. The hypocrisy of the international media between now and then is crystal clear.

To the other side of the argument one might say that the world is better off without the Ba’ath party of Iraq. But that is certainly very much debatable…. on the flipside you have ISIL and the terrorism brutality this was probably the worst state in the history of the world ….perhaps second to the third Reich. For a couple of years the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant were throwing people into fires, they were feeding men to sharks in pools literally, ISIL would put men in a cage three or four of them and then drown them to death in a suburban swimming pool, they would Put men into a car and then blow the car up. They would chainsaw peoples heads off …. they executed Christians in mass…. basically anything you could think of from a violent video game ISIL did…. ISIL even had their own modified version of the video game “ Grandtheft auto“…which word attempt to recruit young gamers over to the cause of ISIL.

Of course after 2003 and also during the initial invasion you had dead Americans you had dead Iraqis. There was anywhere from 300,000 to 1,000,000 dead Iraqis due to the war in Iraq. Not to mention the tens of thousands of American soldiers who were injured…. some of whom suffered horrific spinal cord injuries , neck injuries they had their legs blown off their arms blown off many of these men these brave American soldiers are in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. They can’t have sex they can’t even use the bathroom on their own piano that is something that words cannot really describe.

But it’s not just ISIL. Here’s a question we as Americans can ask today. What is the purpose of The state of Iraq …. A country which of the United States poured trillions of dollars into and countless American lives over 3200 American lives and again tens of thousands of injured soldiers. So where does Iraq stand today is it actually an ally of the United States? , or is it more so an ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran? which chants of death to America.

Finally what will the future of Iraq be ? will it actually remain a technical ally of the United States or will it become closer toward Iran? I think this is perhaps the most important question. Iraq has quite a bit of natural resources of course much oil.

The best thing is I didn't have to go when the balloon went up.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Sorry, but many "in" that country did.
My oldest son was there from April 2004 to April 2005 with the 1st Cav Div whom relieved the invasion and first occupation forces, in time for the violent eruption from Sadr City which started the 2004 insurgency (within days of their arrival 'in-country').

He told me shortly after returning back home that about half the insurgents his unit dealt with (killed and captured) in the Sadr City region of Baghdad carried grave markers written in Farsi. The Insurgency from about a year after the 2003 "invasion" and occupation of Iraq, starting in April 2004 and boiling out of Sadr City Baghdad (Etc.) was largely led and supported by Iran and it's surrogate forces posing as Iraqis while operating on behalf of Iran.

He was there; as far as I know you weren't !!!

Guess who I believe and give credence to ??? !!!

(CLUE: Another area where our USA Intel. Agencies seem not to have had a clue nor earned the monies we pay them. !!!

Hint: they weren't Iraqis! Duh!

 

[irosie91]

Hint: they weren't Iraqis! Duh!

hint-----sure they were Iraqis

 

[DudleySmith]

Iraqi Shi'ites were probably Persian or mostly of Persian descent. Lot of mixed Persian and Arab mutts in Iraq. Hussein conducted a Sunni Muslim civil war against Shi'ites in Iraq, and in the southern swamps, part of which triggered the invasion. So yes, there were probably Farsi speakers running around, and not just in the south but all over Iraq; not a big demographic but not particularly rare either.

 

[irosie91]

Iraqi Shi'ites were probably Persian or mostly of Persian descent. Lot of mixed Persian and Arab mutts in Iraq. Hussein conducted a Sunni Muslim civil war against Shi'ites in Iraq, and in the southern swamps, part of which triggered the invasion. So yes, there were probably Farsi speakers running around, and not just in the south but all over Iraq; not a big demographic but not particularly rare either.

both south and north----Saddam took great pleasure in knocking them off at both
poles. Even if they were arabic speakers-----they probably used Farsi for "religious
purposes"

 

[Stryder50]

Hint: they weren't Iraqis! Duh!

HINT!

They were inside Iraq and they were Iranian~Farsi !!!

What part of infiltrated insurrectionist do you fail to grasp ??? !!!

 

[Stryder50]

hint-----sure they were Iraqis

At the least, in Iraq and posing as Iraqis.

 

[Stryder50]

Hint: they weren't Iraqis! Duh!

HINT!

When a dolt such as yourself fails to grasp the obvious implications of Nazi-German blame placed upon the World's Jews, and it's extension decades later against "Zionism"; It becomes to fence sitters that likely something for nothing.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

HINT!

They were inside Iraq and they were Iranian~Farsi !!!

What part of infiltrated insurrectionist do you fail to grasp ??? !!!

Honestly, I missed that part! My apologies for my error.

 

[Stryder50]

Honestly, I missed that part! My apologies for my error.

Accepted. Sorry if I was harsh on you.

A related factor that sticks in my craw is that our military and political leadership of the time knew/realized the heavy influence and presence of Iran and it's fighters in Iraq and that the "insurgency", started a year after the invasion, was a proxy war with Iran being fought inside of Iraq.* This fact/factor was not shared much (at all ?) with the American public and hence there grew mis-perceptions of our presence and agenda in post Saddam Iraq.

Just one of many mistakes and ideally a lesson to be learned for similar future situations.

*Meanwhile, that "war" didn't actually end and the conflict with Iran continues in "shadows" and is unnecessarily "covert". At times anyway. Recent Democrat Administrations; Obama and Biden, have mostly aided and abetted that enemy, Iran, at risk and harm to Americans and our nation's security.